L3400 3-point hitch adjustment

[Caseyb1]

Sean,

Huge congratulations on taking this project on, way to go. :thumbsup: I'll be doing mine as soon as the weather clears up a bit. Did you need to make any adjustments to the linkage?

As technically simple as this fix is I can't politely describe my feelings towards Kubota's attitude on this issue. Should I ever need another tractor, I'll have a very hard time buying their product. Supporting a company that has that perspective towards their customers is tough. Not saying they are the only company with that mindset, just don't have quite as personal exposure to others.

I'd think that a competent tractor mechanic would be able to complete this repair in 2-3 hours after the 1st time through. I would think an aftermarket repair shop could clean up fixing this issue. A dealer might have a hard time given the politics involved.

Hmm, maybe I've got a new part time job, I'll send you your royalties, of course

Thanks again, Casey

 

[bullbreaker]

Hey, nice toothbar, what brand, looks well built..

Back at the time Markham,7 tooth now Gator I think.
about $330-$350 delieverd don't exactly remember would have to dig up reciept.

Boone

 

[Chilly807]

I got the chance to give it a bit of a run today, tried picking up the rotary cutter which is about the heaviest implement I have. I saw no difference in lifting capacity at all, I don't think that's changed by the adjustment. I've had a few occasions in the past with the winch full of logs that it didn't like the idea of picking up, but that's a situation that's hard for me to duplicate with any accuracy.

It's hard for me to believe the difference in this thing. After all, the only thing I did was adjust the valve to the existing specs in the workshop manual, the extra fiddling with different settings was more to satisfy my curiosity as to how touchy the adjustment is.

The video of today's run with the rear blade is done at 2 speeds, the first being idle, the second at 2000 rpm to simulate results you could expect with an HST tractor set at that speed. I was expecting a bit more bounce at 2000, but I really can't see much difference at all. You can see the slight settle at the end after shutdown.

I'm starting to wonder if Kubota has been changing valve designs for several years, trying to eliminate this problem quietly. It's about the only reason I could see for the several different part numbers the L series has used in the past 5 years or more.

I think the valve itself is very, very good. If the only thing causing the problem has been faulty assembly practices at the factory, then I can honestly say I have some sympathy for the engineer that was doing the valve re-designs. He must have been pulling his hair out wondering why they didn't work properly.

I'm going to leave it as is and try some longer-term testing now. I really can't see any issues with adjusting to the WSM specs. It is after all what any service department would do if they had one apart for other reasons.

The heat of summer may make some differences, or prolonged running, I don't know yet. That's the part that takes time, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping it was simply a screw-up at the factory and not done for some reason I don't yet understand.

If those of you that aren't comfortable doing this yourselves were to take it to a dealer, I guess the request I'd make of them is to adjust the valve to the specs in the WSM. You SHOULD get results identical to mine, assuming you have the same valve I do and no other problems.

Before video:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uceJXZaUnMo]L3400 rear blade before 3 point valve adjustment - YouTube[/ame]

After video:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYUlOaCgpYk]Kubota L3400 with rear blade after 3 point valve adjustment - YouTube[/ame]

Sean

 

[Chilly807]

Thanks Casey,

I tweaked the feedback rod slightly, but that had no effect on the lift operation, only the lift height. I gained an inch or two, mine was a bit low to begin with.

Sean

Sean,

Huge congratulations on taking this project on, way to go. :thumbsup: I'll be doing mine as soon as the weather clears up a bit. Did you need to make any adjustments to the linkage?

As technically simple as this fix is I can't politely describe my feelings towards Kubota's attitude on this issue. Should I ever need another tractor, I'll have a very hard time buying their product. Supporting a company that has that perspective towards their customers is tough. Not saying they are the only company with that mindset, just don't have quite as personal exposure to others.

I'd think that a competent tractor mechanic would be able to complete this repair in 2-3 hours after the 1st time through. I would think an aftermarket repair shop could clean up fixing this issue. A dealer might have a hard time given the politics involved.

Hmm, maybe I've got a new part time job, I'll send you your royalties, of course

Thanks again, Casey

 

[Chilly807]

I will pay for your flight down and back to Mass if you want to make mine work that well

Tom, my wife and I are planning a trip to New England in the fall :laughing: if you can wait that long...

Seriously, your dealer shouldn't charge you much more than a couple or three hours of labour to take it apart and set it properly if they're competent at all.

I'll keep it in mind though, I have to check with the missus if I'm even allowed back in the States yet..

Sean

 

[Tomtint]

Tom, my wife and I are planning a trip to New England in the fall :laughing: if you can wait that long...

Seriously, your dealer shouldn't charge you much more than a couple or three hours of labour to take it apart and set it properly if they're competent at all.

I'll keep it in mind though, I have to check with the missus if I'm even allowed back in the States yet..

Sean

I actually sent this thread to the service department at the dealer I bought from. He was unsure how or if warranty would cover it. I told him I really don't care if it is not covered as long as it is fixed.

 

[johnrex62]

I have been reading this with interest. I have only used the mower on my tractor for the most part and the jerkiness has not been a big issue for me with that attachment. More recently I used a boom to help relocate a carport and was greatly dismayed by the jerk and bounce I experience with that attachment. I contacted my dealer and the Kubota rep and both have been very responsive to me by email.

According to the rep for Southeast division of Kubota America (self described as a marketing arm of Kubota Corporation), he has issued a notice to all of his dealers a month or so ago to address any complaints of this problem as a warranty issue as long as the tractor is still covered. He told me that as long as the tractor is covered by the warranty, they can charge this back to Kubota Japan. Once the tractor is out of warranty it becomes much more difficult to get the dealers reimbursed if even possible at all.

I am working with my dealer to get mine picked up and serviced, but my schedule and the weather has been messing with us a bit between the rain and fog. I hope to have it picked up this week.

I am very happy to hear that the WSM has specs and the adjustment to those specs seems to resolve the issue with no other tricks or "rigging" required. It gives me great hope.

 

[paulwestski]

Sean
Fantastic job on resolving the jerky 3pt issue.
Thank you for taking the time to document the procedure.

I had started down that same path to adjust the valve to WSM specs...but only got as far as studying the WSM.

You've given me and I'm sure many others the initiative to take care of the adjustment on our own.

I haven't contacted my local dealer to see if they will adjust it.
They were such jerks when I was tractor shopping I'm sure they will say.....oh yeah you're that price shopping guy that didn't buy from us because we were 3k more than the out of state dealer.
That's not covered by the warranty because we didn't dealer prep the tractor, your out of state dealer should have properly prepped it.

Not sure I would want them working on it anyway.

 

[johnrex62]

I haven't contacted my local dealer to see if they will adjust it.
They were such jerks when I was tractor shopping I'm sure they will say.....oh yeah you're that price shopping guy that didn't buy from us because we were 3k more than the out of state dealer.
That's not covered by the warranty because we didn't dealer prep the tractor, your out of state dealer should have properly prepped it.

Not sure I would want them working on it anyway.

Can't blame you if they respond that way to you. During my conversation the rep did make a comment that was curious, but I did not pursue it much. He made a comment that at first indicated that the dealer prep was not as consistent as it could be, and then quickly retracted and said that this was not really a dealer prep item because it required disassembly to perform.

 

[k0ua]

According to the rep for Southeast division of Kubota America (self described as a marketing arm of Kubota Corporation), he has issued a notice to all of his dealers a month or so ago to address any complaints of this problem as a warranty issue as long as the tractor is still covered. He told me that as long as the tractor is covered by the warranty, they can charge this back to Kubota Japan. Once the tractor is out of warranty it becomes much more difficult to get the dealers reimbursed if even possible at all.

Thats interesting, as this new dealer I have contacted (not my selling dealer, who is uninterested) stated he called the regional rep, In Texas, and he said no they would not pay, even though it is under warranty. He says he argued my case to him but the answer was still no pay. This new dealer offered to do the job for $180 (3 hours shop labor) Transport is $75 total , which is 1 hour drive each way, or I can get it there myself if I could. Curious isn't it? I am under warranty until Late May

James K0UA